Fishing
by MearlDox
Summary: Fic about Fukki and Bukichi. Spoilers for the whole manga. Took down chapters 2-4 for rewrite. @_@;


Fishing

  


In the past few years, Bukichi had taken up fishing. He travelled around a lot, and it was good to sit down and rest while waiting for dinner to come to him. Running all the time was bad for you. You might miss seeing something important if you ran all the time. Like your friends. No matter how far he ran, he'd never found his master, even though it sometimes had felt as though Bukichi was just a step behind Fukki. So now he spent half his time searching, and half his time fishing. It had the same success rate as running everywhere, anyway.   
Suupuushan had gone back to his village to spend time with his parents. Bukichi understood his feelings; if Fukki didn't want to be found, maybe they should leave him alone. Besides, it was a good excuse for Bukichi to not go to the Sennin-kai as a doushi if he didn't have Suupuu to take him there. Many of the sendou who lived in the human world were dead now, or had gone to the Sennin-kai, and no new sendou had come to take their places of power. Bukichi guessed that was because Youzen, Nentou, and Chuukei had started a stricter control of where the sendou travelled and why. It made sense, maybe, and there hadn't been any trouble with sendou or youkai attacking human villages as far as he knew, but Bukichi himself had to stay here in the human world until he found his master. Even if Suupuu was right and Fukki didn't want to be found... he needed to be found. His master needed him. Bukichi was sure of it.   
Bukichi was good at fishing, good enough that he could sell some extra fish he caught in town for a living. His mother had always said "You can do anything if you put your heart into it." That's how he knew he'd find his master someday. His heart was into the effort, completely into it, and if half-hearted fishing was successful, then surely his wish to help his master would succeed. He just had to be patient, like in fishing. Maybe he could run out into the water, and grab some fish with his bare hands... but, instead, he'd wait for the fish to decide to bite.   
"You shouldn't hurt the fish," a quiet, familiar voice whispered into his ear. "They're just fish, after all. They can't defend themselves."   
Bukichi froze, unbelieving. A gloved hand reached around him to take the pole away, while another arm wrapped around him to hold him in place. A strange feeling of dread crept up through Bukichi's stomach. "M-master?"   
"Did you miss me? It's been a really long time, but you still don't look like you've grown any." His head rested on Bukichi's shoulder, words and breath making Bukichi's ears burn.   
Resisting the urge to run away (_you miss important things when you run all the time_) Bukichi took a deep breath. "Where have you been, Master?"   
"Everywhere. I'm bored, Bukichi. Just walking around and eating and sleeping isn't fun anymore."   
"D-do you want to fish with me, Master? It's a little boring too I guess, but..."   
"I can't fish, I didn't bring my fishhook with me."   
"You can use one of mine."   
"No, I can't." For a moment, Fukki sounded a bit more like Taikoubou. "Fugen'll be really mad at me if I do, probably."   
"Oh..."   
"Say, Bukichi, why aren't you with your mom? It's almost dark. Don't you spend the night at her house?"   
"She died, Master."   
".... I'm sorry." Fukki's other arm wrapped around Bukichi, to hug him a little closer.   
"It's... it's okay." Bukichi smiled a little at the water. "Because of the medicine you gave her, she felt much better for the last few years. So she wasn't uncomfortable at all. And now she can keep my dad company. So it's okay."   
"But you still look like a kid. You have a kid's face. You should have someone to take care of you."   
"I'm okay. I just wanted to find you to make sure you were okay. When we thought you were dead... I ... I was really glad you weren't dead, Master."   
"Really? Why?" An alien cynicism crept into Fukki's voice, hinting at Outenkun.   
"Because... because my master fought so hard and suffered so much all the time... and tried to take care of everybody... it's not fair." Bukichi pulled away from Fukki's hold and turned to face him, keeping a grip on one of Fukki's hands in case he decided to run away again. Fukki's face seemed the same as Taikoubou's at first glance, but there was something different... he had Taikoubou's bright eyes, but there was a hint of Outenkun's bags under them, and beyond that was a tired look that Bukichi knew wasn't there when he'd first met his master. Still, Bukichi recognized his master inside of Fukki. He smiled. "I know you're really tired after everything that happened. You took care of everybody and tried to protect everyone. It's not fair if you're hurt now. So if it's okay, I'd like to take care of you until you feel better. Is that okay, Master? I won't be in your way. I just want to make sure you aren't lonely all the time."   
Fukki blinked once. "Bukichi..."   
"You don't eat fish, right? I can run into town and buy some fruit. Do you want a peach? I think I know someone who sells them!"   
"Bukichi... thank you." 

* * *

This was originally chapter 2 of a larger fic. The fic as a whole was a bust, but I showed a friend this chapter, and she said "post it!" and so... here it is. 

I'm a huge Bukichi fan, and I have to admit I like Fukki/Bukichi a lot... and maybe that's where this'll go. For now, though, just friendship-type-stuff. ^_^; Ayup. 

Review is absolutely worshipped, and each time you review my fics, you make me grin. Even if it's a bad review! Just think, you can make a stranger feel such happiness! Don't you want to review now? It's good karma! 

-- Mearl Dox   
http://www.planetcolu.com/predestination/ 


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